Food for thought: How to keep Mahathir’s pudgy fingers away from the spoils of victory
Umar Mukhtar
Humour me on these hot and dreary days.
Let’s assume that Prime Minister Najib Razak is on the brink of losing his job. The cat is out of the bag and the days ahead are full of acts of false bravado with deals in the making in between statecraft. Najib has only two priorities that matter:
Priority One: How to avoid going to jail.
Priority Two: How to not let ex-PM Dr. Mahathir Mohamad rule the day.
Going to jail is not an option especially with Birkin handbags in tow. All is not lost; loyalty is still a currency he can peddle. Whoever takes over will not have the people’s full support and will be vulnerable to backstabbing unless he also inherits Najib’s loyalists to bolster his position.
The solution Najib will be looking at to achieve the above is to negotiate with an eminent person who has to be someone who:
1. wants to be prime minister so badly, and
2. cannot stand Mahathir, no matter what he pretends to say.
That way the replacement will be highly motivated to do anything as long as he gets the top job, and second, he must have baggage that involves pretty bad experiences with Mahathir. That way Mahathir will be stopped from putting in his two cents worth, which will certainly be not Najib-friendly.
Immediately two names come to mind; Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Anwar Ibrahim.
And maybe there’s a third and fourth prerequisite. The person must not have a strong UMNO following so as to need Najib’s handing over his ketua bahagians, and fourth, he needs a favour himself while Najib still holds the reins of formal power. Such as a pardon, maybe? And a quid quo pro after?
Why did Azeez Rahim go to see Anwar recently? And he had gone to see Tengku Razaleigh, too. To ask how they are or to paddle his own canoe? Nah, he didn’t give a damn about people who have no projects to offer. Must be mandated visits for the errand boy.
There are other available names like Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and ex-DPM Muhyiddin Yassin. But candidates from mainstream UMNO will invite scepticism from reform-minded Malaysians. The Malaysian public still have a soft spot for Tengku Razaleigh and Anwar.
Meanwhile, Mahathir will be struggling to claim that he was pivotal to Najib’s ouster. As if he was influential to push for foreign investigations and as if that matters to us. Unless he wants to be at the centre of the aftermath of Najib’s fall. Mukhriz still needs a job! Money is good but power in what this is all about.
Of course the above is just speculation and Najib is still safe and sound as prime minister. But teh tarik stalls will be abuzz with interpretations!
